WEBVTT IMAGINE LIVING INSIDE THEIR GARAGE. WLWT NEWS 5’S ALLISON ROGERS HAS THE RESCUE MISSION THAT FOLLOWED. ALLISON: IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY. SPRING IS FINALLY HERE AND YOU’RE PROBABLY WONDERING WHY I’M WEARING ALL OF THIS. WELL, AT THIS HOME IN AVONDALE, THIS IS CRUCIAL BECAUSE ABOUT 50,000 BEES WERE FOUND RIGHT HERE IN THIS GARAG THIS MAY LOOK AND SOUND LIKE SOMETHING FROM A HITCHCOCK FILM. >> PICTURE THIS MORNING, THIS WALL WAS NOTHING BUT SOLID WALL HERE. ALLISON: A SOLID WALL WITH A COLONY OF BEES LIVING BEHIND IT FOR AN ESTIMATED 20 YEARS. THESE BEES ARE GETTING A NEW HOME, JUST TWO MILES AWAY AS THE BEE FLIES, AT THE CINCINNATI ZOO. >> WE WILL USE A HOMEMADE BEE VACUUM. WE ARE ACTUALLY GENTLY VACUUMING THE BEES INTO A BOX THAT THEY WILL LIVE IN. ALLISON: THIS RESCUE MISSION IS CRUCIAL. BEES HAVE HAD A TOUGH GO OF IT LATELY. >> OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS OR MORE, THERE’S BEEN A SIGNIFICANT DECLINE. COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER, IT COULD BE ARGUED, IS DUE TO A LOT OF REASONS. ALLISON: SOME TYPES OF BEES ARE EVEN ON THE ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST NOW. >> THEY FACE A VARIETY OF PESTS, THEY FACE THINGS LIKE MITES, THINGS LIKE BEETLES. ALLISON: A DECLINE IN THE NUMBER OF BEES MEANS A DECLINE IN THE NUMBER OF POLLINATORS FOR OUR FOOD. >> HONEY BEES ARE POLLINATORS. SOME PEOPLE ESTIMATE AS MANY AS A THIRD OF THE FOOD THAT WE EAT HERE IN AMERICA. AND IF YOU THINK OF POLLINATORS, WHICH INCLUDE NOT JUST HONEY BEES BUT NATIVE BEES, BUTTERFLIES AND A WIDE VARIETY OF THINGS IT’S THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE FOOD WE EAT DEPENDS ON THOSE INSECT ALLISON: NOW THE BEES CAN BE SEEN AT THE ZOO, BUZZING AROUND POLLINATING FLOWERS. >> SO BEING ABLE TO SHOW THE PUBLIC, HERE’S SOMETHING YOU SEE IN YOUR OWN LIFE. YOU SEE THEM RIGHT HERE. THIS ISN’T SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS IN THE AMAZON. THESE POLLINATORS LIVE RIGHT HERE AND YOU CAN PLAY A ROLE RIGHT WHERE YOU LIVE. ALLISON: WHAT CAN YOU DO? IT CAN BE AS SIMPLE AS PLANTING POLLINATOR-FRIENDLY FLOWERS IN YOUR YARD. >> TO SEE THE BEES, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS GO TO THE ZOO AND FIND THESE HIVES. OR YOU CAN JUST KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR YOUR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD BEES NEXT TIME YOU’RE OUTSI

Around 50,000 bees were found in an Avondale home while repairs were being made to the garage. It's estimated the colony was there for about 20 years.

Now, the bees are buzzing around their new home, just 2 miles away as the bee flies, at the Cincinnati Zoo.

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It was a two-day project of safely vacuuming some of the bees into a box, cutting brood from the wall, framing said brood and transporting it all to the zoo.

One of the minds behind the rescue mission was bee keeper Dirk Morgan.

"Over the last 20 years or more, there's been a significant decline. Colony collapse disorder, it could be argued, is due to a lot of reasons," said Morgan.

The decline has gotten so bad that some bees are on the endangered species list. The insects face a number of challenges.

"They face a variety of pests, they face things like mites, things like beetles," Morgan said.

A decline in the number of bees has a much bigger impact on humans that one might think.

"Honey bees are pollinators," said Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard. "Some people estimate as (much) as a third of the food that we eat here in America. And if you think of pollinators, which include not just honey bees but native bees, butterflies and a wide variety of things, it's the vast majority of the food we eat depends on those insects."

The bottom line: less bees means less pollination for food growth.

The bee hives are visible at the zoo and they can be seen buzzing in and out of the boxes throughout the day.